Hello, friends! Today we are going to look at the difference between stray cats and feral cats. Sometimes it’s easy for us to look at all of the roaming cats in the neighborhood and lump them into one category: Feral. However, examining the difference between stray and feral can help us as a community look at the best ways of determining what is best for an individual cat.
The main difference between a “stray” cat and a “feral” cat is the way that they interact with people. Stray cats may have become displaced from once having the stability of a home. (i.e Did their owners move and leave them? Did their owners pass away? etc). Stray cats may be more willing to come to you, or let you touch them. It’s too bad to have stray cats living outside, when they could easily be placed in a home and make a wonderful companion to someone. It is true though, that stray cats may have been displaced for a long period of time and might be more shy or weary of people. However, this does not mean that this cat doesn’t have the ability to quickly adapt to home life again. Stray cats are often able to be brought into another loving home and continue on with having a good quality of life.
Feral cats are cats that have probably never had a home or lived with people. They may hiss, become scared, and not come close to people at all. These cats tend to have a much higher chance of being rejected by shelters since they are probably never going to be able to live inside with people, while being safe and happy. Some shelters will also euthanize feral cats because of their inability to be adopted.
Similarly, stray and feral cats both contribute to the overpopulation of cats and kittens on our streets and in our shelters. It is important that in order to help with this issue, that you contact your local shelters, animal control officers, and so forth.
Regardless of whether you see a cat and determine them to be stray or feral, it is still important to treat cats with compassion and kindness. Perhaps contacting the appropriate people could make a world of difference for that cat. Speak softly to the cat, and if they are scared, don’t approach them unless you can gain the cat’s trust. Be patient with them and please try to understand this cat might not be trusting of people.
I hope we have helped shed some light on the large differences between stray and feral cats, and let us know if you have any questions on who to contact if you have concerns or questions about cats in your neighborhood.
-Shaina R. Mugford, Ark Administrator